When I heard last week that you
would now consider voting to impeach the President, I knew for the first time
that the House would probably vote out articles of impeachment. I'd finally
decided a week ago that if I were a member of the House that I would vote to
impeach. Since the November elections, the President made the mistake of
thinking the voters had exonerated him by giving Democrats surprising gains at
the polls. By acting as if he were home free, he relaxed, and thereby gave us
a glimpse of his soul. There, I'm afraid we found a man who thinks he has
maneuvered out of a meaningful punishment for his actions. I'd actually
persuaded myself that he knew he deserved punishment and would throw himself
on the mercy of the court, which most likely would lead to "forgiveness" in
the form of a vote of censure.

This is a defining moment in American
history, far more important than any single piece of legislation likely to
come before the Congress. It's about the way we expect our culture to develop
in the period ahead. Specifically, it's about how we expect our "leaders" to
behave, right down to the leaders of the family unit. The culture has to
permit a husband and a father to find a way back into the good graces of the
family after sinning against it. This is what we've been trying to do with
Clinton — and he keeps letting us down. On "Meet the Press" Sunday, Bill
Safire figured the only way the President could avoid impeachment now would be
to shelve his lawyers and ask to appear before the Judiciary Committee without
them, putting himself in jeopardy. If he is not willing to face
divorce proceedings because of what he has done, the House practically has no
way to go but to initiate divorce proceedings. Otherwise, at the very top of
the nation's social pyramid, the rules will have changed. Our entire culture
will have been diminished.

There are a few Democrats who are insisting
Republicans will be punished for an impeachment vote when the President has
such high approval ratings for his job performance. I don't think so. The
report that you had reined in your natural inclination to forgive told me that
the nation itself had come to understand that something more than a censure is
now required. If there are articles of impeachment drawn up against the
President, I imagine there now may be more than four or five Democrats joining
in, for that very reason. The President will have another opportunity in a
Senate trial to come to terms with what is required of him. If he still
doesn't get it, I can now begin to imagine that he will be convicted and
removed from office.